HomeMy Public PortalAboutAugust 5, 2014 minutes with links_201409121148556938Trustees of the
Watertown Free Public Library
August 5, 2014
Present: Katherine Button, Michael Hanlon, Gracemarie LeBlanc, Raya Stern, Carol Tierney, Timothy
Tracy, Trustees; Leone Cole, Director; Caitlin Browne, Assistant Director; Donald Bleech, Red Leaf
Cafe.
The Chair brought the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. A round of introductions took place.
Mr. Hanlon read the Rules for the Public Forum. Nobody signed up for the Public Forum.
Secretary's Report: Ms. Stern moved to accept the June 3, 2014 Minutes, as amended. Ms. Tierney
seconded. All voted in favor.
Financial Report: The packet contains two financial reports: FY14 and FY15. At the end of FY14,
the Library did not have to return much in the way of funds to the Town. The Library was able to
spend 98.6% of the Budget. $32,108.56 from the Personnel lines went back to the Town. Also, $7,847
from Electricity and $5,249 from Gas was returned to the Town per the agreement to help pay for
energy improvements through the Town's ESCO (Energy Saving Company.). The Town increased the
Gas and Electricity lines for FY15 with the hope that there would be increased money going back to the
ESCO at the end of the current fiscal year. All municipal buildings are being evaluated for energy
saving improvements. The packet also contains a list of FY14 June transfers.
The packet includes a spreadsheets of the FY14 expenditure breakdowns by line items and vendors.
Mr. Tracy requested that a spreadsheet categorized by vendors in alphabetical order.
The funds and grants held in trust are not at present earning much money. Because of that, the
Children's Dept. have chosen to spend the McCall Gift Fund right away rather than wait for interest to
accrue. The Library is already making good use of this year's Burke Fund allotment. The late former
Library Trustee Charles Burke was a great believer in services to young adults.
Mr. Tracy made a motion to accept the Financial Report. Ms. Button seconded. All voted in favor.
Red Leaf Cafe: The Cafe will be closed Saturdays during August. Mr. Bleech will be on vacation
August 25-29, and will be back after Labor Day. Book sales are going well. The same group of
booksellers come in regularly to purchase large numbers of books. Ms. Cole added that the Library is
trying to make the bookstore as low maintenance as possible. Linda Fox does a good job picking out
choice books to sell online through Better World Books.
Director's Report: Before giving her report, Ms. Cole wanted to give Ms. Browne an opportunity to
talk about Makerspace. Ms. Browne announced that Janet Buck has agreed to take the unpaid position
of Makerspace Volunteer Coordinator. The Makerspace project will be featured at the Farmers Market
on August 28. The space at the Arsenal, part of a "Community Corridor" should be ready by the end of
September. Questions about liability, who pays for utilities, etc., still need to be ironed out with Athena
Health. Everyone taking a Makerspace class must sign a waiver.
The Director mentioned the Capital Plan items waiting for funding from the Town, that is replacing the
slate roof on the historical part of the Library, new slider doors, and painting the walls. Also on the
agenda will be renovations for the old Police Station.
Ms. Cole made a request to spend LIG/MEG funds for replacing more of the X99 rolling chairs in the
upstairs computer and Mastrangelo rooms. Original to the 2006 renovations, the chairs get constant
use. The new chairs will be under warranty.
Ms. Stern made a motion to spend $8600 from LIG/MEG funds to purchase 20 replacement X99
chairs. Mr. Tracy seconded. All voted in favor.
Evaluation of the Library Director: The packet included additional remarks submitted by Ms.
Button for the evaluation. The majority of the Trustees did not believe that the remarks needed to be
incorporated into the document prepared by Mr. Hanlon.
Mr. Tracy made a motion to accept the 2014 Performance Evaluation of the Library Director. Mrs.
LeBlanc seconded. Mr. Hanlon, Mrs. LeBlanc, Ms. Stern, and Mr. Tracy voted Yes. Ms. Button
abstained and Ms. Tierney voted No.
The Trustees who voted yes on the evaluation signed the document.
Old Business: Ms. Stern reported on her visit to the Buffalo Public Library which uses RFID (Radio
Frequency Identification) technology, making self -check-out simpler and faster. Ms. Cole said that
RFIDS contain more information than barcodes. RFIDs also make inventory control easier. Adding
RFID chips to the current Library collection would probably cost $10,000. This estimate does not
include hardware, which may cost around $100,000. The Town Manager could work such a system
into capital costs to be paid over three years. At this point in time, only a handful of Minuteman
libraries use RFIDs.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, September 2, 7:00 PM.
Motion to adjourn: 8:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Katherine Button
ENCLOSURES: Agenda; Draft June 3, 2014, Minutes; FY14 Year -to -Date Budget Report; FY15
Year -to -Date Budget Report; 4th Quarter Budget Breakdown; June Transfers; Burke FY15; FY14 and
FY15 Fund or Grant Book Funds; LIG/MEG request; Library Director Annual Review Methodology;
2014 Performance Evaluation of the Library Director; Additional Remarks for Director's Evaluation;